Thread by @doyendon

Thread 1/x About to begin a quick trip to Walnut Grove, MN. Who knows why that town might be a destination?

This will be a tough trip in the Tesla given our time constraints and the first trip in a long time where I feel an EV makes life harder. Follow the thread to learn why.

2/x This trip has all of the elements to make it difficult in an EV, even a 260-mile-range Tesla:
1) Wed evening family event back at dad's.
2) no superchargers
3) no destination chargers at our stopping point
4) we will need to add at least 120 miles of range using L1 and L2.

3/x
The plan:
1) Start trip from MSP airport at or near 100% charge.
2) use the L2 charger in New Ulm to add as much range as possible. See the town.
3) use outlet at our Airbnb overnight for about 40-50 miles of range.
4) use the Tesla destination chargers in Morton on way home

While I wait for @beegrace's plane to arrive, I'm using to @BlinkNetwork chargers @mallofamerica to get a 100% charge (or as close as I can get to 257 given how long it takes to add the last few miles). 4/x

Step one complete with 255 miles. Step 1a is to drive efficiently, which is also going well. Remember, my vintage Model S is rated by the EPA using a standard of 320 Wh/m, so a 30-mile average of 217 Wh/m is doing really well. 5/x

Step two initiated. Connected to the @ChargePointnet charger in @newulm and began charging at a rate of 21 miles added per hour. The goal is at least 60 miles added. We are having a leisurely lunch/dinner at Veigel's Kaiserhoff and will then chill out in the park. 6/x

Slow charging in @newulm gave us a chance to walk the town and talk to some people. So far, Lenny has added 72 miles of additional range and I'm sitting in beautiful park. A couple photos from around town. 7/x

Step two completed successfully with 80 miles of range added. Now to step three, 110v charging at our Airbnb. Off we go. 8/x

Step three also looks like it'll be successful. Lenny is charging on a 110v outlet in the garage of our Airbnb and adding 4 mph, as is normal for this kind of charging. This should net about 50 miles of additional range. If so, that'll give us a little margin tomorrow. 9/x

Step three complete with 48 miles added. With this charge, we have enough juice to get home but will probably do step four just to check it out and add a little more margin.

Now off to visit the @LIWMuseumWG in Walnut Grove.

The @LIWMuseumWG is worth a visit. 11/x

We stopped at the @jackpotjunction Casino in Morton, MN to get some lunch and add use the @tesla destination chargers to add a little more margin for our return to the Cities. As normal with the destination program, there are also @ClipperCreek chargers. 12/x

The South Central Electric Association is walking the walk by driving a @ChevyElectric Bolt and offering solar programs. Way to lead the way! Sadly, it doesn't look like SCE has a presence on Twitter. 13/x

We added 34 miles of range while having lunch at @jackpotjunction casino and have even more margin for this last long leg back to dad's. Lenny says we'll arrive with 33%. The long stop yesterday in New Ulm and our efficient driving made all the difference. 14/x

We have seen a number of big solar farms on this trip to Southwest Minnesota. This one is near Mayer, Mn. 15/x

16/16 and the trip comes to close. We are getting home with 36% charge remaining, which equates to about 90 miles of margin. We could have cut it closer but why risk something unexpectedly forcing you to use a bunch of miles.

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